Happy Birthday Yogi
by princeshadowstar
Summary: Excerpt from Longer piece: Karneval Files. It's Yogi's birthday. Everyone is on board except Gareki. How do you get a tsundere teen to celebrate? An unlikely person steps up to the plate and chaos and hilarity ensues. All the characters are kept in character to the best of my ability. Enjoy! There is swearing so the rating is T.
1. Chapter 1

[A/N: This is an excerpt from chapter 6 I believe, that I wanted to include in this Excerpt since it has to do with Yogi's birthday and because Karoku is hilarious to write.]

Yogi yawned. He stretched. He sat up amongst his Nyanperowna plushies. "Eh…?" He blinked looking at his cat alarm clock. "... February...11…" His eyes lit up. Oh! Today is my birthday! He felt nervous and excited but nervous! He threw off his covers and he quickly got dressed in a green ripped long sleeve top, and dark leggings with brown boots. He headed for the kitchen first since he was hungry. He was under house arrest and he wondered if Hirato was going to do something about that rule on his birthday. I can't really blame him, I guess… Yogi smiled to himself though it was a sad empty smile. He slowed in walking. I am...as Dr. Akari put it, A 'human shield' … Yogi touched his patch on his face. Because of his "allergies," he was forced to wear this thing. No one really told him why but it usually involved him blacking out.

Tsukumo was wearing a nice white and pink dress today as she walked around the corner. "Yogi, good morning." Yogi blinked, looking over his shoulder.

"Ah, good morning Tsukumo," he said, breaking out into a charming smile. Tsukumo smiled smally back.

"Happy Birthday," She said awkwardly.

Yogi's face lit up. His heart soared. "T-Thank you," he said flustered. "I'm going to the kitchen to make pancakes, want to join-"

"Nai! Hold on! Don't put your hand on a hot stove!" They both heard the sound of a blue haired boy's yell through the halls. They looked at each for a split second before they both took off down towards the kitchen. Skidding into the doorframe, Yogi's eyes widened with Tsukumo's.

There were some sheep there, holding Nai with their wierd robotic tentacles, while a very cranky Karoku was wrapping Nai's right hand in a cold wet towel. Nai had tears in his eyes and he looked towards Yogi and Tsukumo. "A-Ah...g-good morning," he said politely past the tears of pain.

"Tsk," Karoku huffed. He looked at Yogi and Tsukumo. "Sorry. We'll be out of the way in just a-"

"No!" Nai yanked his hand away from Karoku to Karoku's surprise. "I- I want to make breakfast!"

"Hah? You can't even use that hand! You stuck it in the pan!" Karoku spluttered, grabbing Nai's wrist. "Just sit down okay? I'll get something to wrap your hand in since you have a small burn-"

"Actually, Nai-chan," Yogi said with a smile, "Why don't we all cook together?"

Tsukumo looked to Yogi. Yogi nodded to her. She smiled smally and she walked over to the stove and she began to look at the ingredients on the counter next to it. The sheep, sensing the crisis is averted, wandered off. Karoku picked up Nai and set him on the edge of the table. He kept his back to Yogi. "No. You guys can cook. I'm making sure Nai gets proper care."

Yogi bit his lower lip. He could tell that Karoku was not an easy person to get close to. And his current sour attitude was a little toxic. He didn't verbalize this because he really didn't want a fight on his birthday. Did Karoku even know? Yogi didn't have much of a connection to Karoku so it wasn't a big deal if he didn't know. However, he had tried to be his friend a few times and had been met with cold and downright chilly indifference. He took a deep breath. Nai however was the one to speak. "I want to help," the Niji whimpered.

"Why?" Karoku asked with a huff. "Anyone can make pancakes. Let them take care of it."

"Because, it's for Yogi!" The little Niji sniffled, lowering his head. "I...I wanted to surprise him...I...wanted to make him breakfast...on his birthday...because...because Miss Tsukumo sometimes makes Mr. Hirato his breakfast and it makes him happy…" The sound of a spoon clattering to the counter made everyone look up as Tsukumo tried to pass it off as clumsiness. Her cheeks were pink as she stirred the batter furiously. The others weren't quite sure what the problem was. Karoku could care less about the personal lives of these guys. And Yogi was more focused on Nai's adorable confession. Moved to tears much to Karoku's irritation. Jeez, how is this guy an adult? Karoku couldn't help but think childishly. Mostly he just felt irritated because he was a sitting duck in a hot pot. But today was this guy's birthday and he'd told Nai he'd help him celebrate it since it made Nai happy.

"Ah, miss Tsukumo, I think if you mix it any more, it'll turn to soup," Yogi said, walking over to her. But he was smiling. Nai was really a precious child. He had wanted to cook for him. Was this the "present?" Yogi didn't mind. He was so happy. Smiling at Nai and Tsukumo and even the awkwardly grumpy Karoku, Yogi took the mixing bowl from Tsukumo. "Here, I'll start them up…"

Karoku looked to the sniffling Niji boy. His expression was hard to read. But with a sigh, he ran a hand through his hair. "Damn it all."

Yogi blinked as a blue mop of hair popped up between him and Tsukumo grabbing the bowl. Yogi let the blue haired young man begin to spoon the batter onto the skillet. Yogi's look was questioning if not surprised. Karoku felt self-conscious and silly. Tsukumo meanwhile had stepped over to Nai as she saw no point in crowding the stove. "Ah, you don't have to," Yogi began but Karoku huffed, shouldering Yogi out of the way.

"I'm doing this for Nai." His response sounded slightly irritated but Nai watched Karoku's back.

"Eh? Karoku?" He asked puzzled. He hopped off the table, and trotted over to Karoku's side. Karoku had a faint embarrassed pink flush on his pale cheeks. Why was everyone staring at him? Seriously? So he was normally a socially constipated hermit, they didn't have to stare at him did they?

"I-I want to be your hands...for you…" Karoku said feeling really lame right now. Man he sounded really uncool. Nai however lit up like fireworks. And the smile that spread across his face made Karoku remind himself that if it made him happy, that's all that mattered. Yogi tried to reach for the spatula to flip the pancakes but Karoku grabbed his wrist, setting the bowl down. "Sit down." It wasn't supposed to come off as intimidating but Yogi was scared of the look in the blue eyes that looked ready to murder him if he opposed. He sat down like a good boy. Pleasantly moved that Karoku was joining them while being at the same time terrified of the boy. Uwah, even Gareki doesn't scare me like this. This blue haired guy is really scary when he wants to be. Gareki is mostly just violent. Yogi shivered. Why did Circus seem to pick up the violent scary types so easily?

Yogi looked over to Tsukumo. She was smiling as she went to prepare some fruit to go with the pancakes. He looked to Nai who was happily hovering near Karoku as Karoku made pancakes. Yogi smiled to himself. This was really nice. He checked his phone for any messages. There were none. His face fell a little but he figured it was because he was busy. He pocketed his phone.

"Don't forget to send him a happy birthday," An irritating voice chided at Gareki. Gareki had to take the call since it was from Hirato. But he was tempted to tell the guy to bite him. Gareki was currently done with school for the morning and was on his lunch break. However, he had received reminder texts from everyone except Nai and Karoku to wish Yogi a happy birthday. He had no idea why it mattered so much. In fact, it was downright irritating. He touched the goggles on his forehead. The closest thing he'd ever gotten to a present was this pair of goggles from Tsubaki's grandfather in order to protect his eyes when Gareki worked on his little gadgets. Gareki never told him they were bombs but you know.

"Is that all? Can I hang up now?" Gareki asked impatiently.

Hirato laughed on the other end. "Don't get so snippy. Just a simple Happy Birthday will do. Oh but remember to put all your feelings -" Gareki cut him off there, hanging up. Hirato could go screw himself. Gareki was already in a poor mood because of his lovely night conversation with the headmaster in regards to promises. He knew the conversation. It had gotten him kicked out of the Circus course. He'd never get to wear one of those bracelets now. _I know that I can't get a Circus I.D. anymore…_ His heart sank. It was alright. _I can be a medical physican still. I can prevent death… right? With this…?_ After all, he could be a medical combat physician still. He'd go into medicine… Gareki tried to picture himself like Dr. Akari and his stomach churned. It wasn't him. Technology and combat...that was his thing. Sure he wasn't really into killing people but he had no problem pulling the trigger on Varuga.

Gareki looked to his texts. He was almost grateful that Nai wasn't nagging him to wish Yogi a happy birthday. It was irritating enough as it was. Gareki didn't wish the guy ill will but the guy was like six years older than him. He could deal without a happy birthday from him. With a sigh, he turned back to Shishi and Ranji who were talking next to him about a new video game.

"Hey Gareki, you played it yet?" Shishi asked eagerly.

Gareki blinked. He never really did do video games. "Ah...no. I don't play videogames," he admitted.

Shishi made a death motion over his heart. "What are you? A cave man? Wow, that's so sad."

Gareki punched him in the face. Shishi yelped and flailed as Ranji kicked Gareki in the shin in response. Gareki yelped keeling over. "NO fighting in front of the rep, green nose!" Ranji huffed, crossing his arms. Gareki groaned. Oh right. There were rules and shit here. Ugh. His time at the academy in the Circus course hadn't lasted past a month, maybe a little longer. And now he was back to square one sort of. And without Tsubame, Gareki felt more antsy and out of place here amongst all these kids who clearly came from normal-ish family backgrounds. None of them knew the level of suffering he'd endured. With a sigh, Gareki just got up and he walked off, ignoring the both of them.

Shishi got to his feet, "What's with him?"

"Who knows. Let's leave him be," Ranji sighed.

Gareki stopped inside of the library. He'd read. Reading calmed him down. He walked over to the technology section and he pulled out a book on mechanical engineering. Sitting down, he began to pour over the math. Gareki was visual when it came to things. He didn't really understand the complex equations, but he understood the basics of physics and the grandfather had homeschooled him and the twins as children. He naturally was very dexterious with his hands. It served him well when it came to self teaching himself how to make bombs. Gareki's stomach sank. Would doing this path, really allow him to be closer to Circus? He hated the way everyone had tabs on him.

He didn't realize that he missed being able to slip into the cracks. He was used to there being three kinds of people in the world. Though now, he learned there were four kinds of people. There were scum, prey, enemy, and friends. But Gareki didn't know what to make of all these kids of various teenage years around him. Most were older than him though a few his age were there. This was a school for gifted children after all. It wasn't like they trained just anybody. Gareki couldn't shake this feeling in his gut. Something didn't feel right but he didn't know what. _Damn it all..._ Gareki held his head in his hands. He rested his head in the pages of the book, and turned to look out of the window at the pretty campus grounds. A year here...huh?

Yogi was nervous. He'd waited all day for that happy birthday text. He was honestly a little disappointed. If not very depressed. Nai and Karoku were busy getting his cake ready with Tsukumo. Iva and Jiki were currently getting his presents arranged, and Kiichi and Tsukitachi were with Hirato getting things for dinner all finished and set up. Birthday boy had been told to stay out of the way so Yogi had naturally wandered towards Gareki and Nai's shared room as his thoughts passed to the dark haired, moody eyed boy. It was now close to dinner time. Yogi tried to not cry. He knew he was made fun of it by the others, except Tsukumo and Nai. He didn't know what Karoku thought of him but didn't really care.

To be honest, Yogi had his doubts about Gareki sometimes. Gareki was hard to read. It was hard to tell if Gareki saw him as a "friend" ...or if he just saw him as someone who could take care of Nai. Yogi leaned his head against the wall by the door, closing his eyes. It wouldn't do. This negativity in his gut. It was his birthday. If Gareki was too busy...he was just busy. School was stressful for kids these days. Yogi began to pick at his patch. His eyes watered. But he silently turned away from the door. Yogi wanted to clear his head. It wouldn't do for him to be negative during his birthday celebration. He went up to the upper deck to catch some fresh air. Some sheep followed him, to make sure he didn't do anything he mused. He knew he was still grounded. He rested his arms on the rails, and put his head in his arms, staring down at the sea. They'd set off that morning to return to Satanika. They would be passing over Karasuna soon. _Gareki's old home…_ Yogi closed his eyes. "I'm kinda pathetic...aren't I?" He spoke to no one in particular.

However his words didn't go unheard. Nai overheard. He had gone to find Yogi since preparations were complete. Karoku had followed him naturally out of a concern for the boy's safety. The both of them heard Yogi talking to himself and Nai looked sad. They both stood in the doorframe to the ship's entrance on the roof deck. Karoku felt irritated. He knew that Gareki had yet to wish this blonde idiot happy birthday. He didn't understand why he didn't just do it already. Karoku didn't really care to get involved, but he hated how it was hurting Nai. _Think a little about how this affects others, idiot._ He was tempted to get Nai's phone and call Gareki. Actually. That wasn't a bad idea. "Nai, can I see your phone?" he whispered to Nai. Nai blinked in puzzlement but he went ahead and he handed Karoku the phone. "You, get the blonde moper back to the kitchen okay? You guys go ahead and start eating. I'm not hungry."

Nai blinked as Karoku began to walk down the stairs. Nai leaned on the railing calling after him. The wind was loud on the top deck so it wasn't like Yogi could hear them. "Where are you going? Karoku?"

"I'm gonna take care of some business!" Karoku kept walking away. Nai frowned. But he didn't want to disobey Karoku's wishes. He walked over to Yogi, patting his arm. Yogi jumped.

"Ah! Nai-chan." He blinked, looking to Nai. Nai smiled at him nervously. He had no idea what Karoku was planning but he wanted Yogi to cheer up. He held out his hand.

"Everyone is waiting," Nai said gently. Yogi's face smiled though Nai could tell that his emotions were still a little sad. But they had perked up a bit. He took Nai's hand and let the Niji lead him to the kitchen. Everyone was seated in the kitchen around the big table. There were some balloons tied up. Some NyanPerowna decor and the table was set with some really nice dishes that were Yogi's favorite.

"Hey Nai, where is Karoku?" Hirato blinked, sitting at the left of Yogi's seat at the head of the table. Jiki and Kiichi sat across from him. Dr. Akari sat next to Tsukitachi further down. Tsukumo sat next to Iva on the left. There were two seats towards the end of the right. They were for Karoku and Nai.

Nai let go of Yogi's hand as Yogi moved over to his seat, admiring the layout of the feast. Nai smiled nervously. "Oh-um he said he had to go take care of business." The others stared at him. Nai's smile looked nervous. "U-Um...yes?" He asked tentatively. Hirato looked to Akari and Tsukitachi. Tsukumo got up to pull out Nai's chair. Nai shook his head. "W-what's wrong? Why is everyone staring?"

Yogi didn't sit yet. He was piqued by the interest everyone had in Nai's statemet. "How long did he say this business would take?" Hirato asked, a tone of amusement in his voice. Though his eyes beckoned to Tsukitachi to get up and find the blue haired boy. Tsukitachi gave him a quiet subtle gesture of understanding. Meanwhile, Nai just nervously fiddled with the hem of his shirt.

"Um...well...that's…" he began, but he honestly had no idea. "He asked for my phone and then left." He said this brightly, hoping it would help. Hirato's amusement shifted to disbelief and then he held his head in his hands.

"Nai…" he couldn't believe he didn't think of this sooner. If Karoku was in league with Kafka after all, Nai had just handed him the perfect means to contact them. He got to his feet. " Iva, Tsukumo, stay here with Yo-"

"Actually, I'll help." Yogi pushed his chair back in with a smile. "Besides… I think if we all corner him, he can't get out of eating with us," he joked, trying to keep the suddenly serious mood light. Hirato blinked. He could tell Yogi was depressed. He knew why too. With a sigh he nodded.

"Alright, everyone. Let's split up. We'll find Karoku and drag him back here kicking and screaming. Feel free to break his legs-just kidding," Hirato beamed at everyone with a sparkling smile but everyone sweat dropped even Akari. Because that smile was clearly mad. Nai swallowed.

"Did I do something wrong?" He nervously asked everyone as they all got up from the table. Dr. Akari was the one who answered before anyone else. If anyone was good at ripping off the bandaid- it was Akari. Tsukitachi was ready to slap a hand over his mouth but the death glare made even him pause as he spoke to Nai levelly.

"You gave a potential spy of Kafka a means to talk to them while we are otherwise occupied in this celebration," Akari said calmly. Nai's face fell.

"Karoku isn't like that!" his eyes welled with tears. He ran from the room. Silence hung in the air. Akari sighed. Tsukitachi smacked him upside the head. Akari yelped.

"The hell!" Akari started but he had a lot of glaring eyes on him. He just looked away with a huff, crossing his arms. "Someone had to tell him," he muttered.

"Nevermind that. Tsukumo...Iva, you go find Nai. Tsukitachi, Jiiki, you come with me. Kiichi and Yogi, you two check out the east wing, Everyone. Break!" Hirato said, striding towards the hall. Everyone followed suit.

"Yes sir!" They all said in unison.

Akari found himself alone at the table. He rolled his eyes. Fantastic.

In the meantime, Karoku was back in his room. He hadn't been allowed to have any electronics which was irritating but he understood the safety reasons. He held Nai's phone now. He smirked to himself. Wow, he wondered what face Hirato was making right now since no doubt Nai told them that he had the phone. He scrolled through the messages. Ah, found it.

Gareki was sitting down at dinner with everyone. As he was about eat some mash, his phone vibrated. He blinked. He was sitting with Shishi and Ranji. They were in the dining hall. He pulled out his phone. It was Nai. Furrowing his brow, he got up. "I got to take this," he said to the boys as he walked away. He exited to the hall and he leaned against the wall outside of the dining hall. "Nai?" He asked, pressing the call button.

"Stop being a heartless prick and tell the blonde fool Happy Birthday already. You're causing trouble for Nai." He heard the phone click. He slowly lowered the phone and stared. That wasn't Nai. What the hell.

"Karoku?" Gareki felt his vein twitch along with his eyebrows. What the hell was that guy doing with Nai's phone? Did he just get yelled at by that blue haired weirdo? About Yogi no less? Like it was his fault Nai was upset. Well, it probably was but still! To have it pointed out like this. Gareki tsked. If Nai was upset he hadn't told Gareki and Gareki felt silly for not realizing that Nai wouldn't willingly tell Gareki if he was upset about him not wishing the blonde weirdo happy birthday. He called back. Karoku rolled his eyes but picked up.

"What? You ready to tell the birthday boy his dues?" He asked coolly.

Gareki bit his tongue but then thought, _to hell with this._ "Give the phone back to Nai. Is Nai with you?"

"No, he's not. He's sitting at dinner with everyone," Karoku sighed.

"What about you?" Gareki blinked. He would have thought Karoku would be roped into no doubt the festivities. He heard silence and then a heavy sigh. Oh? Was this guy socially awkward too? Probably was. He wondered if the only reason Karoku was calling was because of Nai. Probably. Nai seemed to be the only thing he cared about.

"I don't care much for it," Karoku huffed. "Anyways, just hurry up and call that guy."

"Karoku, I swear, if you use that phone to put Nai in danger," Gareki found himself saying. It dawned on him that he had access to talking to dangerous people. However, the harsh tone of the next line made Gareki quickly realize that this Karoku had no interest in handing Nai over to anyone.

"You idiot! Why would I ever put Nai in danger!" Karoku barked back, getting angry. "Don't you tell me what to do. Just stop making Nai cry!"

Gareki grit his teeth. "Bastard." he hung up on Karoku. Karoku now had his turn to stare at his phone. Rage bottled up inside and threatened to pour out. That little- frustrated, Karoku paced in his room. There had to be a way to get that damn Gareki to say happy birthday. Nai would need proof in order to feel better. Suddenly, Karoku got an idea. _This is going to be difficult, but I suppose I can do it._ He called Gareki back.

Gareki glared at his phone. He didn't want to answer it but he figured he could always hang up again. "What?" He asked irritably.

"Do you have access to a computer."

Gareki blinked. "What?"

"Don't make me repeat myself. It's irritating," Karoku huffed.

Gareki wanted to punch that bastard so badly. In fact, he was going to punch him. Once for being an asshole and another time for being a dick. The last punch would be for the hell of it. "Yes, I do. Now what do you want?"

Karoku ran a hand through his hair. He sensed someone coming down the hallway towards his room just because he could hear footsteps. The sound of footsteps reached his ears as they got closer. "Look, just get to a computer. I'll tell you once I get there." He hung up. The door opened just then. He blinked as Hirato, Tsukitachi and Jiiki walked in. Oh goody, half the circus was here.

"Good evening," Hirato said calmly, shutting the door. Karoku knew he needed to get to a computer. He tilted his head though sitting on the edge of his bed, the phone in his hand. He could see how they eyed it. _They don't trust me. Wonder if they heard me._

"Evening," he replied with an edge of cheek.

"That phone isn't yours," Jiiki said walking over to him. Karoku saw how the boy was prepared to lash out at him at the slightest sign of trouble. With a huff he held out the phone.

"I'm well aware of that," he said calmly, and he let Jiiki take the phone. He was slightly intrigued by the look of surprise that momentarily flashed behind that boy's eyes. Really, everyone did still think of him as the enemy. This is why he only needed Nai. He didn't care what others thought of him.

"Who did you call?" Tsukitachi calmly asked as Hirato's eyes bore into Karoku. Karoku narrowed his eyes to stare levelly at the guys. They were getting on his nerves. He figured it wouldn't hurt to tell them.

"Gareki." He shrugged. "Told him to tell that blonde guy happy birthday because he was making Nai cry."

Hirato shared a look with the others. Karoku wasn't quite sure what else to say. He didn't know how to prove he really had only called Gareki. He inwardly groaned. All this to get a fricken happy birthday greeting to Yogi for Nai's sake. Nai however ran into the room. "Karoku!"

They all looked in Nai's direction as he panted. "I...I don't think you're doing anything bad!" Nai ran over to Karoku and hugged him without warning. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to get in trouble. I'm sorry." The little animal began to cry into Karoku's arms. Karoku was surprised. And startled. But he pet Nai's head.

"Shh, it's okay, Nai," he said, his voice gentle. "They're just doing their jobs." He closed his eyes and he nuzzled Nai's head. He could care less who was watching. The trembling creature calmed in his warmth and hugs. Hirato looked to the others. Hirato was the first to speak.

"For the time being, we will hang onto the phone. However, do join us back at the table. We can't start without you," Hirato said, calmly turning on his heel and opening the door. Quite frankly, Karoku thought that they would all do fine without him there. But he kept that to himself. He wasn't going to upset Nai anymore than he already had. Hirato could tell that Karoku wasn't hiding anything. There was just something too honest about the way he was soothing Nai. And what he'd said about getting the phone to merely yell at Gareki. "My apologies for assuming the worst. If what you said is true, then you have nothing to worry about." Honestly, that sounded amusing. He'd get a confirmation from Gareki of course but for now he wanted them all back at the table.

"Ah yes, we got the phone back," Jiiki was saying over the phone to Kiichi. "Alright, we'll meet you back at the table." he hung up and headed out with Tsukitachi and Hirato. Karoku really didn't want to be at the table right away. He thought a moment. He got up from the bed and he followed Nai towards the kitchen. He could feel those guys glancing back at him. He wondered if they thought he was going to make a break for it. Well, they weren't entirely wrong, but he had to time this just right.

"There you all are!" Yogi was seated with the others back in the kitchen. Karoku went ahead and sat down next to Nai. There wasn't much he could do at the moment. Without a phone, he had no way to let Gareki know what was going on. _Damn. I need to figure out something._ Karoku knew that the guys were keeping an eye on him as the food got passed around. He huffed. They didn't want him here. He knew that. He scraped his chair back suddenly. Everyone looked up. Karoku looked to Nai.

"I'm going to the bathroom," Karoku stated. He saw how the guys continued to look at him. Feeling a bit like he was being scrutinized to a ridiculous amount, he held up his hands. "You're all welcome to join me," he said, feeling a bit cheeky. Mostly because he didn't like the looks in their eyes. Though they were smiling, he really didn't feel like he belonged to this. Nai gripped Karoku's hand though and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Okay," Nai said gently. "Hurry back, okay?"

Karoku nodded. "So you guys coming, or do I get to take this guy here?" He pointed to the sheep that was expectantly at his feet. Hirato quirked a brow.

"The sheep is enough," he said calmly. Karoku nodded. He left the room with the sheep trailing behind him. In the meantime, Tsukitachi turned to the birthday boy. The focus tonight was supposed to go to Yogi after all.

"So, Yogi, how'd you spend today?" he said cheerfully. Everyone ate their food awkwardly but Yogi brightened up.

"Oh, I played with Nai-chan and Tsukumo-Chan. I also got to go outside and play a bit outside of the ship before we took off this morning with them," Yogi said brightly. Hirato had given Yogi a 1 hour time limit to do as he liked off the ship since it was his birthday.

In the meantime, Karoku headed for the bathroom. The sheep followed him. Perfect. Without warning Karoku twisted his body, slamming the sheep face first into the ground.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 8

Pulling out a pair of pliars and some other tools that he had Nai secretly get him and promise not to tell anyone, he knew that the bathroom was one of the few places there weren't cameras. He'd have to quickly de-activate this sheep. "Bahh, unauthorized behavior detected," the sheep bleated. Shit, it was going to send out a distress signal. Karoku felt wires reach out from the sheep and try to snag him. He quickly dodged them. It wouldn't be long before a whole bunch of sheep came. He quickly tried to pop off the sheep's head. He hated to be medieval but there wasn't much time. The wires he quickly grabbed and he stabbed a man-made tazer into the back circuit box of the sheep. The sheep bleated, it's eyes going red and then the system overheated. The Sheep jerked and jolted and then went still. "Baah. Baah…. …" The sheep went still. He panted hard as the wires collapsed to the ground.

Karoku quickly dissembled some of the parts of the sheep. _I need to make a key to grant me access to the main control room. No doubt these sheep are pre-programmed with the acess._ With the parts he had, he quickly set to putting together a "scanner chip" that when pressed to the door, would read as the sheep and allow him entry. He had been on the ship long enough to study a few things. He just couldn't believe he was risking everything to get a stupid happy birthday across. Jeez.

He opened the door to the bathroom. There were more sheep. Well shit. They shot their wires at him but he dodged them somehow. This was bad. At this rate he wouldn't ever get to the computer room. He knew he couldn't just ask to use the control room. He'd get busted or they'd say no because he was untrustworthy. To be fair, disembowling their sheep probably wasn't going to look great on his resume but he didn't have a choice. Using his makeshift tazer he set it to a line function and the electromagnetic current stuck all the sheep to one another commically in one giant sheep ball. Great, he bought time. He ran off towards the control room pell-mell. God damn, the lengths he went to to for Nai.

Swiping the key to the door, Karoku made it to the control room. So far no one had come and there was clearly no one on camera duty. "Password." Shit. He hadn't thought of that. He dumbly wracked his brains. Then he leaned towards the voice function.

"Bahh?" He said.

The door was silent. "Access granted." Well, that was easy. Running into the control room, he was honestly amazed that no one was on duty. He remembered that this room had a big t.v. like screen because he had watched it with Gareki and Nai back during the fight going on at Kuronomei. He had put this room to memory as well. While the other two were idly watching, he'd memorized the keyboard. Clacking away, he learned quickly that hacking was going to be a problem. He cracked his knuckles. He better get this shit flying. Suddenly an alarm went off.

"Override password…. Alarm going off in 20 seconds"... A machine's voice warned him that it was going to alert the whole ship to the intruder trying to hack the system. Karoku grit his teeth. How much time had passed? He was shaking from the adrenaline. The sheep wouldn't be unglued for a good couple of hours and he quickly clacked away on the keys. "10 seconds." Shit. The password override wasn't working. "8 seconds." He had to get to Gareki. He knew that this computer could go to the internet. He wondered if it could call Gareki as well. "6 seconds." Karoku's fingers flew across the keyboard. He grit his teeth as he read codes and attempted to override the system. "2 seconds". Shit.

"0 seconds. Alarm activating." Balls.

A red light began to flash. It wailed loudly. Everyone at the dinner table shot up, except Nai. "Fuck!" Jiiki yelled. "He's in the control room!"

"He's trying to override the system?!" Tsukitachi looked to Hirato.

"Where are the damn sheep?" Jiiki hissed. Everyone, even Nai, ran into the hallway and gaped. In front of them, rolling around unable to come unglued was a comical sight of all the sheep bleating in one giant bowling ball.

"That takes some serious talent," Tsukitachi couldn't help but remark.

Hirato's face was torn between the ridiculous sight and the serious situation. He picked to go with serious. "Tsukumo, Kiichi, find a way to get those sheep apart. "Tsukitachi, come with me. Dr. Akari, keep an eye on Nai-"

Nai had already taken off running. Jiiki gecked and he ran after to grab the Niji but Nai was faster and he darted around the corner. "No! I'm going after Karoku!" Hirato huffed.

"Have it your way. Jiiki, follow. I'm coming up the rear." He looked to Tsukitachi and they ran towards the control room. Yogi in the meantime bit his lower lip and looked at his feet. Why was this happening now? On his birthday. Instead of sadness, he felt filled with something else. Rage. He scratched at his patch, standing in the hall with Dr. Akari. Iva had run off to help Tsukumo and Kiichi. Dr. Akari turned to see the patch slowly fall off his face. His eyes widened as Yogi's hair slowly turned Silver. A dark smirk spread on his face.

" _ **Let's play a game, Ka-ro-ku chan 3 "**_ His voice sounded dark.

Dr. Akari figured that this may help stop the kid from causing trouble in the future. He just watched as Silver Yogi took off down the hall with a cackle. _Well, this has turned into an interesting birthday party._ Dr. Akari walked in the direction of the others, towards the control room though not nearly as fast. It was just one kid. Granted this kid had managed to thwart their best defense system-the sheep. And now he was attempting to hack into the computer system. This kid had balls. Akari was almost sad to think that they'd be lopped off by Silver Yogi. For the most part, this was the most interesting thing to happen all day. Considering being here felt like a waste of his time in the first place and he was abducted against his will by Tsukitachi to attend this in the first place.

Karoku managed to get to the internet finally. The sirens stopped wailing. He quickly pulled up Kuronomei's firewall. His fingers were flying across the keys. _Just a little more._ He grit his teeth. He was so close. He got past the defenses barely. He knew he had only a few minutes. How could he buy more time? He quickly tapped into the security system. "Emergency locks, engaged" a robotic female voice answered. Just as Jiiki got to the door with Hirato and Tsukitachi.

Nai was there too. "Karoku!" Nai's voice yelled. Karoku flinched. Dammit, they caught up fast.

Tsukitachi jostled the door. "Shit! He engaged the emergency lock! How do we override it?" He shouted to Hirato, flustered. He wasn't amused anymore. He was seriously concerned. None of them knew that Karoku had this capability. He spent all his time in his room, reading. Where did he find the time to not only stop the sheep, but somehow hack the computer system? What was his end goal. "Where'd he get the tools for this?!"

Nai trembled. "Um...I…" He shook like a leaf. All three men turned slowly to look at him. Nai looked very guilty. And right now, that was a bad thing.

"Nai, what did you do?" Jiiki asked, grabbing the sniffling boy by the shoulders. Karoku could hear them outside but he didn't have time to get distracted. If he fucked up, then all this would mean nothing and he'd be thrown to the government to be torn apart. Shit. He hated that Nai was in the hot seat.

"K-Karoku looked s-sad and I...I wanted to make him feel better...h-he asked me to ...to just...g-give him some s-scrap metal a-and let him borrow...some t-tools…" Nai weakly admitted. All three guys mentally face-palmed. Honestly, Nai really was an animal sometimes. Hirato was not amused. He summoned his staff. He stabbed the door. Tsukitachi yiped. Hirato's face was furious. Karoku winced. He couldn't see that face, but he could only imagine what was in store from the sound the door made as it was gutted through the center.

Shit. He was pretty sure he was next. "Permission granted," the robotic voice continued. Perfect. Last leg. He connected to the school server. Luckily, their security was a cinch since it seemed to follow a similar formula to this ship's firewall. Kind of sad really but considering he didn't have much time left, Karoku was taking what he could get. This was the hardest hacking he honestly could remember doing. He was surprised he'd even gotten through. Suddenly, vines tore apart the door from the hinges. Jiiki yelped.

"The FUCK!" Jiiki yelled as he fell on his ass. Hirato and Tsukitachi quickly looked over their shoulder to see Silver Yogi nyooming towards them and then floating to the ground to crouch near them.

" _ **Neh, Hirato, let me play with Karoku-chan,"**_ Silver haired Yogi eagerly said, smiling sadistically. Hirato paused. But then he stepped aside. He beckoned to the others to do so as well. Tsukitachi and Jiiki peered inside to see the blue haired boy still typing away, having pulled up some codes that weren't their forte. Nai however stared at the silver yogi, eyes wide with fear.

"Be my guest," he said, tone dead cold. Karoku's heart leapt to his throat. Shit. Shit. He found the IP address he was looking for. Quickly he tried to tap into the video part of the system.

"NO!" Nai shouted, blocking the door to everyone's surprise. "I won't let you hurt Karoku!" Nai shook like a leaf. Karoku hissed to himself. Shit! He didn't want Nai to get hurt. He was already balls deep. It was all or nothing. He pressed Enter.

" 15% until connection is complete." A robotic female voice informed everyone in the room.

At that moment Karoku heard Nai yelp as Silver Yogi grabbed Nai by his collar. Karoku whirled, avoiding one of the epees that Silver Yogi slashed towards him as he flung Nai towards Hirato and the others. Hirato caught Nai but restrained him from interfering. Nai struggled. "No! No! Mr. Hirato! Please!" The Niji struggled, tears streaming down his face. Karoku ducked out of the way and Silver Yogi shifted angle.

"25% until connection is complete."

Karoku fell to the floor with a grunt, on his back now from losing his balance. He found himself backed against one of the walls near the control panel, as Silver Yogi menacingly tipped his blade right under his chin, barely touching his Jugular. Karoku tensed, going very still. " _ **You have been very naughty, Ka-ro-ku 3 chan 3."**_ Karoku had no idea what was going on with this weirdo. But he had a sword tip at his throat ready to run him through. He could barely swallow.

"40% until connection is complete."

"I"m sorry, but he has infiltrated our system, disrupted our security sheep, and he is dangerous," Hirato said calmly. "Silver Yogi, don't kill him. We need him alive so he can be interrogated." He nodded to Tsukitachi and Jiiki who ran in to provide back up should Silver Yogi need it. Nai bit Hirato. With a surprised yelp, Hirato let go. Nai ran into the control room and he tackled Silver Yogi.

Hirato ran in to try to undo whatever Karoku had done, recovering from Nai biting him. However, he kept getting an "error" message. He grit his teeth. "I need more time!" he shouted. He was stupefied. How had this one kid overrode the entire system. This kid… was dangerous.

"Don't hurt him!" Nai sobbed as Silver Yogi paused trying to skewer Karoku to grab Nai and he slammed Nai into the ground. Nai cried out as a hand tightened around his throat. As fast as he had done this though, Karoku heckled him from behind. Putting all his weight into his body, Karoku slammed Silver Yogi into the wall by his face. Jiiki was instantly pulling the struggling boys apart. Tsukitachi had a firm hold on Silver Yogi and Karoku struggled as Jiiki began to smother his ability to breathe.

"Mmf!?" Karoku's eyes widened as he felt himself being suffocated by Jiiki's hand. The boy was a foot shorter, but he had managed to wrap his whip around Karoku's neck, yanking him to the floor as he choked him with his hand over his nose and mouth and his whip constricting on his throat as he sat on his stomach, otherwise, pinning his arms and shifting his wieght so that his opponent couldn't kick him off easily. Nai watched this unfold. He ran over to Jiiki finally, heckling him from behind. Jiiki didn't want to hurt Nai, but he found himself toppled off of Karoku as the Niji yanked on his hair. He yelped.

Tsukumo and the girls ran over just then. "55% complete until connection," the female robotic voice continued as Hirato was trying to do his best. Karoku bit Jiiki. Jiiki let go momentarily as Karoku did an underhanded crotch shot with his elbow. Jiiki sank to his knees letting out a pained yelp. Nai got out of the way as Jiiki staggered. Staggering back as well, Karoku didn't have time to catch his breath before Silver Yogi had him wrapped in vines with a cackle. He'd managed to throw off Tsukitachi. Silver Yogi smacked Tsukitachi so hard that Tsukitachi flew out of the room and smacked into the wall with a pained grunt.

"We can't untangle them. The electromagnetic current has them completely gl-" Iva stopped talking as she looked at the scene before her. Karoku could feel his head spinning. Iva summoned her diamonds.

" _ **No one touches Karoku-chan, except for me,"**_ Dark Yogi cackled.

"S-Shit! Just let the feed load!" Karoku shouted to Hirato. "It's not dangerous!" Not that his words would mean anything to these crackers. Hirato's look to him said that he was a dead man. Karoku gnashed his teeth together. Nai trembled as Tsukumo quickly moved to Hirato's side to protect him and Kiichi grabbed Jiiki out of harm's way. Silver Yogi shoved Karoku against a wall ensnared in vines. They wrapped around his arms and legs and kept him immobilized against the wall. Karoku let out a small pained grunt, as he felt thorns begin to dig into his clothes. Shit. This was the worst. A vine slithered to his throat and he began to feel those thorns hug his bare neck. "Ngh…" He winced.

He couldn't bear to see Nai so upset though. Nai began to cry loudly. "Don't hurt him. Don't hurt him." Karoku looked weakly at the computer. The temporary "riddle" he'd encrypted into the code would stop Hirato from undoing his work, at least for a time.

"Almost cracked it," Hirato said confidently to the others. Karoku's heart was beginning to sink. All his work was about to go down the drain. "10 more seconds!" Hirato yelled.

"90% complete," The voice continued.

"5 more seconds and this hacker's work will be undone," Hirato said darkly. His fingers were flying. Tsukumo continued to cover his vulnerable spots though no one was attacking. Iva and Kiichi just pulled Tsukitachi and Jiiki out of the way. Silver Yogi had already subdued Karoku so there wasn't really a point.

" _ **No one else touches Karoku-chan. He's my prey,"**_ Silver Yogi warned with a gleefully murderous look in his eye. Karoku felt the thorns starting to sink in painfully. He stifled another cry of pain. But he panted. " _ **Do you enjoy ruining people's special day?"**_ He crooned as he ran a finger under Karoku's trembling chin. He traced Karoku's jugular.

"Hey...silver h-haired...bastard," Karoku panted out, glaring at him with steely blue eyes.

Silver Yogi paused. " _ **What?"**_ he asked, tilting his head with a smile.

"Happy...fucking...birthday," Karoku managed to get out.

"Fuck!" Hirato frustratedly stepped back as the connection went through before he had finished putting in the code to override the override. His pride had taken a huge hit. He was going to beat the shit out of what was left of Karoku.

" _ **Connection complete."**_

Gareki's face popped up in a video stream. "What...the hell" Were the first words out of the teen's mouth at the scene that unfolded before him. Everyone was in the control room, and Silver haired Yogi had Karoku pinned to a wall. Nai was in tears. Hirato was staring with Tsukumo at Gareki's big screen face. Tsukitachi was limping back into the room. Jiiki was recovering from being injured in the crotch. And Kiichi looked ready to murder Karoku with Iva.

*little poof back*~*~*~*

Gareki had no idea what was going on. Karoku called him out of the fucking blue then had ordered him to get to a laptop. Gareki didn't know what was going on but he figured he'd go to the library computer. Leaving dinner without returning at all, he'd headed to the library. It was open late anyways. He slipped inside and had been staring awkwardly at the computer for the past 30 minutes. He actually had no idea how long he should wait. What he had to do. Or if anything was going to even happen. He felt stupid for listening to Karoku. Just what was that guy planning?

Gareki propped his chin in his hand and began to read a book to pass the time. He had no idea what was going on. About 30 minutes later, he got a video screen popping up. His eyes widened as he looked to the screen. The little camera on his computer beeped to life and the next thing he knew, he was staring at the weirdest scene next to Lady Mine going Varuga on his ass. He suddenly realized exactly what Karoku had done. Holy fucking shit. That guy had balls. Respect. Though he wouldn't tell him that. He'd have to ask Nai how it got pulled off if Nai knew.

"What the hell is going on?" He stared stupidly at everyone. They all exchanged looks. Even Silver Haired Yogi looked surprised. Karoku panted, starting to slip. He was weak as it were from being punched around by Yogi and nearly suffocated by Jiiki. He managed to shout though mostly out of frustration.

"You know what to do, Gareki!" he said fiercely.

Gareki blinked. Everyone was staring at him. He saw how Nai looked at him with a tearstained face. "Uh…" Now really didn't seem like the mood for birthday wishes. More like, it felt like he was coming across a soon to be murder scene.

Hirato stared. Karoku had gone balls deep in shit to get a live video feed of Gareki? He turned his head slowly to look at the teen who was starting to lose consciousness. "Let him go, Yogi," Hirato commanded. Silver haired Yogi did, staring at Gareki.

Karoku slumped to the ground, rubbing his neck as Nai instantly ran to his side. "Karoku!" he knelt by Karoku as Karoku caught his breath. Silver Yogi looked to Karoku with stunned disbelief.

" _ **What...why did you do this?"**_ He sounded totally surprised.

Karoku leaned into Nai's hug, catching his breath. He'd had enough excitement tonight to last him a lifetime. He almost wanted to laugh. So he did. Nai was startled as Karoku began to laugh smally then it just grew and grew till he was laughing in Nai's arms. Nai was worried that Karoku had lost it. Everyone looked at each other. Karoku pulled back finally. "Oh man. You should see your faces. God. Damn." He kept laughing as he rested his head against Nai's neck and shoulder. "T-The sheep are probably still having a ball." He kept laughing, partly at his shitty pun, and partly because it was either that or crying and he wasn't going to fucking cry. His legs were jelly. He felt like a noodle. He was sure he'd have a heart attack from all of this. Silver haired Yogi narrowed his eyes. It'd been a while since Karoku's brain had done that much work.

" _ **You didn't answer the question."**_ Silver Yogi sounded irritated and impatient. Karoku shakily sat up, using Nai for support as he got to his feet.

"I did it because I'm tired of seeing Nai cry." He bluntly stated. He looked to Nai. He ruffled his hair before he turned to look at Gareki quietly. Gareki honestly had no idea what to do or say. He was at a complete loss for words. "Besides, I wanted to make Nai's birthday wish for you come true."

Silver haired Yogi looked to Nai. Everyone's eyes were on Gareki then those two and then Gareki and then back again.

" _ **Nai's birthday wish?"**_ Silver Yogi repeated.

"No. His wish was for your birthday wish to come true." Karoku pointed to Nai and then back to Gareki. "He said that you wanted to see Gareki. So I made it happen. If I had asked to video-chat Gareki there was no guarantee that it would work since you guys don't trust me, and from the walls I had to hack, I'm thinking your school actually doesn't really allow too much outside contact considering it was a bitch tracking the IP address to the library computers there."

Hirato sighed. "To be honest, we have a specific way of having students video chat," he agreed. "And typically, you have to get permission for that first." The look he gave Karoku reminded him that he was still in trouble. Karoku just sighed, and leaned his head against Nai. Nai tried to support Karoku's weight as he began to pull Nai closer to him. Gareki felt that Karoku was a little too cuddly with Nai but whatever. His life. He looked towards Silver Yogi who had floated in front of Hirato and Tsukumo to look at the screen. Gareki pulled back instinctively as Silver Yogi's face filled the screen and and his purple eyes took up the entire computer as he blinked at Gareki.

" _ **Eh…."**_ Silver Yogi smiled at Gareki. " _ **I don't care for birthdays."**_ He let that statement hang in the air. Everyone was a bit stunned to hear Silver Yogi say that so calmly. " _ **Besides, you don't really care, do you?"**_ That other statement really took the others,even Karoku by surprise. Silver Yogi gazed levelly at Gareki whose face showed actual surprise mixed with irritation.

"What the hell, Yogi. What are you talking about?" Gareki huffed. "I don't feel the need to be mushy!"

" _ **Exactly. My birthday is no exception. I understand, completely,"**_ Silver Yogi clasped his hands behind his back, his epees disappearing along with the vines that had been snaked in the control room. Silver Yogi had managed to not actually destroy anything. Dr. Akari arrived with some medicine and stood in the doorframe with Iva and Tsukitachi. Everyone felt a bit awkward, except Nai and Karoku who both were feeling emotionally drained more than anything.

Gareki however glared. "That's not what I'm saying! Idiot!"

" _ **You know something, Gareki?"**_ Silver Yogi tilted his head, and he smiled hugely. " _ **If you hate me. Tell me. Because leading me around the nose is really starting to piss me off. Even on my birthday you really can't stop being a real ass can you?"**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 9**_

Gareki's face contorted with irritation, shock and honestly, he was really taken aback. He had no idea that Yogi felt this insecure. The one thing Gareki knew was that this Silver Yogi seemed to know the feelings of his other half while the other half seemed oblivious to the existence. Although Silver Yogi didn't know the same people immediately, as well as blonde Yogi, now that both sides knew Gareki, Gareki realized that this Yogi was not afraid to speak his mind. It was a blow for sure. Gareki's expression was pokered though. He figured he had this coming. He took a deep breath. Silver Yogi however floated down to the ground. "Yogi…" he began but the Silver haired man moved over to Dr. Akari and he held out his hand for the medicine. Surprised at his compliance, he handed over the medicine. Silver Haired Yogi walked back over to stand in front of the screen. Hirato and Tsukumo had walked off to the side. Karoku and Nai looked on as well. Karoku didn't really know what was going on, but at least the attention was off of him for now. He wondered what would happen when they found the sheep's remains in the bathroom.

" _ **I don't want to hear it."**_ Silver Yogi stared right at Gareki. Gareki felt his heart b-thmp. His eyes widened a bit. This had happened before too. At Rinoll. When he'd first met Silver Yogi and he'd been pulled out from the thorny shield by his wrist. Those piercing eyes that seemed to look right through him. Gareki gulped. There was something terrifying about this Yogi. Because it was like if you tried lying, he'd rip your throat out.

Still, he somehow found his voice. He hadn't thought that Yogi would be that bothered. He really hadn't. He figured that Yogi was a big boy. But, here was Silver Yogi, blatantly telling him that he was being insensitive. Gareki took a shaky breath. "Wait!" He said loudly. Silver Yogi paused, injecting the serum into his arm as he turned to look at Gareki. Gareki had his attention, along with the attention of everyone.

" _ **Whatever you have to say to me, you can say to my face with these dumb asses in the room,"**_ Silver Yogi said calmly, gazing back at Gareki's face. Gareki didn't want an audience. But he didn't get much choice here.

"Excuse me," the librarian suddenly interrupted the call. Silver Yogi's vein twitched. "Do you have permission to-" her eyes fell to the scene. Hirato cleared his throat.

"Gareki is making a special call, please allow him to continue," he said. The librarian adjusted her glasses and quickly walked away. She knew it was Captain Hirato of the Second Circus Ship. She wasn't going to say no to him. However, she did make a phonecall to the headmaster. He had to know that the computer had been hacked because the librarian was the one who issued access to the video chat normally.

Gareki was silent. But he bit his lower lip. A simple happy birthday would sound so freaking lame at this point. He knew this. But he didn't know what to say to Yogi. So he just took a deep breath. "I've had a lot going on," he lamely said.

Silver Haired Yogi paused. Then his neutral expression turned into a laughing face. He laughed. Everyone was silent. Karoku wanted to slap Gareki. What the hell. What was so difficult about saying "happy fucking birthday?" He'd done it too though half-sarcastically and he barely knew this guy. " _ **I suppose that's true. Little Gareki has so many stones to skip in his lake of wonders."**_ Silver Yogi was making a pun on the fact that Gareki's name meant flower pebble. He was also calling Gareki little since Gareki hated to be called a kid. Though he still totally was one.

Gareki bit back a retort. Right now, he didn't know what Yogi would do if he went awol because of Gareki shooting off his mouth. He grit his teeth. _Dammit. I really didn't think...but if Silver Yogi is out then I know for a fact that...Silver Yogi must have come out due to being angry at me?_ Gareki blinked. Didn't Silver Yogi come out when his "allergies" acted up? What "allergies" caused him to come out right now? It's true his patch wasn't on. Yogi must have been stupid and not taken the proper dose. Gareki would throttle him the next time he saw him. "I...I know that I've not had much time to talk-"

Silver Yogi laughed. " _ **I don't want to get started on your texting history, boy."**_

Gareki grit his teeth harder. "L-look. What I'm trying to say is…is…" Gareki didn't know what to say. What he would say sounded so lame and uncool. He wished he'd just sent that damn happy birthday text now.

" _ **Too slow…"**_ Silver Yogi's smirk slid off his face. It was replaced with a cold look as he began to put the Serum into his arm.

Gareki blurted without warning as Silver Yogi began to change back. "I-I'm glad that you were born! If you weren't, then I wouldn't have a reason to want to watch your back the way you've watched mine! You've saved me so many times and I know that I'm hard to get along with but that's because you're way overly cuddly and I hate Nyanperowna!" Gareki said in a rush. His cheeks began to burn. He was going to fucking punch the birthday boy for making him say that and in front of everyone no less.

Karoku bit his lip to stop from laughing. He hid his face in Nai's neck and shoulder, shaking with laughter. The others were honestly amused as well. Now that the choas had died down, everyone's main concern was Silver Yogi. Silver Yogi's eyes widened in surprise. Even as his hair turned from Silver to blonde, some tears formed in his eyes mostly from surprise. " _ **Ga-**_ **re-** ki?" The blonde sank to his knees, tears half formed and crumpled. Hirato quickly moved over to his side. Gareki's eyes widened.

"Oi! Yogi!" He was worried now.

"It's alright Gareki," Hirato said, holding up a hand. "He needs a moment."

Gareki bit his lower lip. Would Yogi remember what he'd said? He hoped not. But perhaps it was time he sent a serious birthday text to him. "Hey guys, I'm signing off." He said with a sigh. Nai was the first to speak.

"Ga..reki…" Nai looked up at him tearfully. "I'm sorry, Gareki. I didn't want to cause trouble...for everyone".

Gareki shook his head. "No. I should have just sent the damn text. Bye." He hung up on his end. Karoku swayed on his feet. Nai yelped.

"Karoku!?" He went to try to support Karoku's weight.

"Damn. Well, that didn't go the way I thought it would," Karoku huffed. Hirato passed Yogi's unconscious form over to Tsukitachi before he looked to the others, ignoring Karoku for the moment.

"Everyone, return to dinner. Dr. Akari, you watch Yogi. He should come to in 10 minutes at most. He didn't over-expend too much energy. If not, pump some booster into him," he commanded. Everyone shuffled out. Nai stayed behind with Karoku. Karoku was wary. He watched Hirato as Hirato turned his gaze to the blue haired leanly built young man, who was still hugging the chimera boy rather protectively. Hardly threatening since he looked dead on his feet.

"I do hope you are quite pleased with your "present" for Yogi," Hirato said with a less than amused sigh.

Karoku shrugged. "It was for Nai."

Hirato stared. The lengths this guy went to for Nai to be happy were terrifying. Hirato quirked a brow. "Good to know. Well, if you wouldn't mind, ask next time before you hack."

"There was no guarantee you'd let an ex-Kafka member touch your stuff," Karoku pointed out. "And a normal laptop wouldn't work. The types of signal waves needed another type of electromagnetic field in order to transfer data. A normal laptop wouldn't last 5 seconds."

Hirato had nothing to say to that. Well, he had one thing. "Touche." He held out his hand. "Anyways, give me your gadgets."

Karoku furrowed his brow. "I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean," he said innocently. Nai clung to his pants leg.

Hirato gestured with his hand. "If you want a pat-down, I'd be more than happy to. I can't promise it won't be unpleasant though." He sounded dead serious. Karoku huffed. He was already in trouble. No point in making it worse. He handed over the make-shift computer chip. Hirato looked at that fake "card" and was secretly impressed and mostly stupefied. This kid had gutted one of his sheep. Expertly. "Any more gadgets." He stared Karoku down. Karoku groaned.

"Fine, I get it. Jeez. Damn Four-eyes." Karoku huffed. He handed over his man-made tazer. Hirato handled that thing with care, dropping it into a drawer to his left in a cabinet. He turned back to the boy. "That's all I have." Karoku held up his hands. "Search my room."

"Oh. I plan to." Hirato's tone was very saccharine. Karoku gulped. Nai just sniffled. Hirato sighed. "Come on you two, let's go back. There's no point in causing a scene. Yogi won't remember any of this anyways."

Karoku blinked. "What...I don't get sent to my room without supper?" He couldn't help but sound cheeky. He was sure he was dead. In fact, he probably still was. But he felt a strange sort of high from what just went down. In a terrifying way, that had been fun.

"Don't tempt me." Hirato pointed to the door. "March."

Nai and Karoku did as told. Karoku took Nai's hand and Hirato led them back to the table. Everyone was there and Yogi was back in his seat. Iva was heating up some of the food that had gone cold. "What happened?" Yogi rubbed his head. He only remembered Karoku setting off the alarm to hack. When he saw Hirato return with both boys in tow, he stood up abruptly.

"Ah!?"

Hirato held up a gloved hand. "Don't worry, it was a false alarm," Hirato explained. "It turns out that the sheep in the control room didn't know Karoku and they told the system he was "hacking" in." Yogi stared for a moment but then he nodded.

"Okay…" He accepted it. They were grateful that this guy was gullible. And that Hirato was a naturally born amazing liar,liar pants on fire. It really helped. "Sorry for passing out. I got stressed," he said, looking at his food. He noticed the disheveled looks of the others. Something more had happened. He couldn't shake this feeling. But he smiled. "Either way, I'm ready-" His phone rang. His eyes widened along with everyone's at the table. He took it out. He stared. "Gareki?" He answered.

Gareki was in his bunk back in Kuronomei. He let some time pass before he figured normal Yogi would come to. It'd been about maybe 15 minutes since the call, at tops 20. He took a deep breath, secretly relieved that it was normal Yogi who picked up. "Hey, put me on speaker." Yogi blinked but did as he was told. Gareki could feel his face growing hot. This was embarassing. So friggin' embarassing. Here goes nothing. "Happy Birthday, Yogi."

Yogi sat in stunned silence. Everyone stared at him. When the tears silently began to roll, everyone got worried. Before they could speak, Yogi's face broke out into a wide grin. They all knew why. Karoku slumped in his chair. He rested his head in his arms. "Fucking finally," he muttered. The sentiment that everyone had been waiting for.

"Thank you," Yogi's voice wavered. Gareki knew he was crying. What a cry baby. He covered his face with his hand. He wanted to hang up. Not because he was mad at Yogi. But because he was embarrassed as hell.

"I...don't have anything to give you," Gareki began but Yogi stopped him there.

"Nonsense," Yogi said warmly, " You and everyone here, are celebrating my birthday with me. I have everyone at the table. That includes you now. I couldn't ask for more."

Gareki's eyes widened a little. He was silent. "That's...stupid." It was the only thing he could think to say. Yogi blinked.

"Eh? Gareki? Hey?" his voice came through Gareki's speaker but Gareki was burying his face in his pillow. That damn blonde. Saying mushy shit. Such fucking mush. The fucking mushiest shit that mushed. Gareki didn't know what to do about this warm feeling in the pit of his stomach. He didn't know how to take this kind Yogi's words. Gareki realized that what really put him off wasn't Yogi. It was his kindness. He was so gentle and unlike anyone Gareki had ever met. He never had a hidden agenda. He was almost as naive as Nai. If someone were to throw a punch, Gareki would be ready. But, for someone to be as kind as Yogi was even though Gareki was aware that he had hurt him, and not blame him and be grateful even that he even called. Gareki felt like the ass that Silver Yogi accused him of being.

"Damn…" he whispered. He grabbed the phone and pushed it to his ear, as he lay on his side on his bunk, one cheek pushed into the pillow as he closed his eyes to try to settle the guilt and the embarrassment burning on his face. "Ah, I'm here. Sorry I was getting ready for bed." It was the best excuse he could think of. Iva set the heated food back on the table with Tsukumo and Kiichi's help. They all took their seats.

Yogi's face fell a little. "I understand. Thank you for calling-"

"Idiot. I can talk for a little longer. It's not much, but I'm yours for the night." Gareki gecked. Everyone sat in stunned silence as his words hung in the air. Tsukitachi had to bite back a laugh. "I-I mean! That's not! I'm not saying that like anything weird!" The teen hotly corrected himself. God he felt like a fool. Yogi just sat in stunned silence. Everyone watched as a red blush creeped into the blonde's face. Hirato waved a hand in front of it. But Yogi didn't react immediately. The tears started up again.

"No...it's alright," he finally said, setting the phone down on the table. His hand was shaky. "You have school, Gareki. So...so you need your rest, right?"

Gareki was really getting irritated all over again. He hated this rollercoaster of emotions this bastard was yanking him on. "I said I'd stick around until midnight! Don't make me take it back!" He threatened sounding cranky. Yogi chuckled weakly.

"O-Okay," he said meekly. Gareki huffed.

"Good." He said, still a little cross. He rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling, running a hand through his hair, as he held the phone to his ear.

Everyone resumed eating. Gareki closed his eyes. That blonde Bastard was going to give him a heart attack one of these days. "Tell me what you get," Gareki continued. Yogi paused. "I want...to know how your birthday goes. Even though I can't be there, I ...want to be a part of it."

Everyone smiled to themselves. Karoku just began to wonder if Gareki had the hots for this guy. He wasn't going to eat but the look on Nai's face made him eat what was placed in front of him. He couldn't stand that Niji's tears. He watched as Nai got up. Nai walked over to Yogi. He gave him a hug. "Ah-Nai?"

"I...I want you to ….have a good birthday." He said weakly as he looked to Yogi and he looked at everyone and then the phone. "Gareki… thank you. For spending his birthday today with us all. You are as much a part of this as anyone else here."

Gareki felt his heart b-thmp. He didn't like birthdays. They were a problem. They were useless. Another reminder that you weren't dead yet. But the way Nai said that. Gareki smiled into his arm as he covered his warm face. "I already know that, dummy." His voice was warm though and Hirato chuckled along with Tsukitachi and the girls. Akari stared at his greens with distaste. Jiki was keeping an eye on Karoku. Karoku waved at him innocently and Jiki flipped him the bird in response.

Karoku just silently munched on his food. He didn't look at anyone. The sheep bleated, still stuck in their giant ball outside. Karoku got to his feet. "Hirato, I need to see that tazer. I can undo the sheep." He held out his hand, walking over to Hirato. Hirato nodded. He had one of his banshee retrieve it and bring it to him and he handed Karoku the tazer, sending Tsukitachi to keep an eye on him. Nai watched Karoku leave the room. Yogi meanwhile was eating a bit more though he was mostly moved to tears of joy.

A few minutes later there was a sea of bleating as the sheep came apart in the hallway. Tsukitachi yelped. "No! He's not a threat! Don't attack him!" Everyone looked at each other as the sheep bleated in anger in the hallway. Some laughter burst out from Yogi. It was kind of comical now that the initial shock had dissipated.

Everyone smiled. Karoku returned with Tsukitachi. Karoku handed the tazer to Tsukitachi and he sat back down in his seat with a sigh. Nai hovered near Yogi. Yogi looked to him and Nai cleared his throat. "I...I want to thank Karoku!" He blurted loudly. Everyone paused. Karoku froze. He didn't look at anyone. He didn't like this attention. He felt self-conscious.

Yogi blinked at him. "Karoku?"

Nai nodded. "Karoku...worked hard to make your wish come true." Yogi blinked. He looked towards the blue haired young man whose ears were turning red. Everyone found that amusing. Karoku wanted everyone to stop seriously staring.

"My wish?" Yogi asked puzzled.

Nai knew there were two personalities and that if Yogi knew they both existed that it would be bad. But he couldn't help himself. He had to say something on Karoku's behalf. He was really happy that Karoku had tried to make Yogi's birthday better by including Gareki. "Yeah. Karoku told Gareki that it would be really cool, if he could call you." Yogi figured the others had to make Gareki call him. He was insecure again.

Gareki huffed on the phone. "Yeah. Alright. The others bugged me. But you know, if you have something to say, say it next time. Because… sometimes….sometimes I can be an ass," he admitted, trying not to grind his teeth from the humiliation of having to admit such a thing in front of everyone.

"Gareki. I don't blame you," Yogi said instantly. Gareki paused.

"Tch." Gareki took a deep breath."I called you because I wanted to! It doesn't matter how it happened. But it did! And Karoku did have a hand to play in it. Because of him, I have no choice but to talk to you or I can't hold my head high."

Yogi chuckled weakly. He wasn't quite sure if Gareki had called him of his free will. Though he was happy none-the-less. It would be nice to know that Gareki wanted to call him. He didn't want to be a charity case. "It's alright Gareki."

Gareki was quiet. "No. No it's not." He bit his lower lip. He took a deep breath, running a hand through his messy locks. "I...Karoku went out of his way to give you the present of being able to communicate with me." He left out the video call but he wasn't being entirely untruthful. "And… I didn't do what I should have done sooner." Gareki felt the most uncool right now. But, he hated how kind Yogi was being. Get mad, idiot. He swallowed.

Yogi could tell that Gareki was trying to apologize. "I understand," he said, smiling warmly. "Karoku, thank you, for giving me the chance to hear Gareki's voice tonight," he said, refraining from calling him his "best" friend since he didn't want to step on Gareki's toes. Karoku just shoveled some turkey into his mouth. He kept his eyes plastered to the plate. Was his face hot? Yep. It was hot. And everyone was fucking staring. Fantastic. "And Gareki, thank you for calling. And everyone, thank you for spending my birthday with me."

Gareki's voice died. He wasn't able to say what he really wanted to say. **Thank you for being born.** It sounded lame. It was definitely lame. If he said it he knew that he'd never be able to take it back. Birthdays were dumb. Stupid. They meant nothing. A celebration of not dying yet. "Thank...you…" Gareki said, unable to stop himself. He had to say somethin.g Something sincere. How could he make that idiot understand that he cared. That he wasn't goaded into this? Gripping his bangs, he heard Yogi go quiet on the other end. "For being born."

There he said it. Now he was a jackass with a heart. Goddamit. Gareki's face was in the pillow as soon as those embarrassing words had managed to tumble out of his mouth. Please may this pillow kill me now in my sleep.

Everyone was watching Yogi. Yogi's smiles up till now had been gentle but sad to an extent. But this one was a pure radiant smile. "Gareki!" He crowed through the phone. Ah yep, there was the hyper idiot that Gareki was used to. "I'm happy you were born too!"

Everyone had to stifle their laughter in various ways. Hirato settled for stifling it into his arm. Tsukitachi settled it into Akari's sleeve of his coat to his chagrin. Kiichi just hid behind her hands. Tsukumo had a small smile. Iva was cackling already. Karoku was subtly amused and Nai happily chimed in. "I'm glad everyone was born!"

That did it. Laughter erupted. Gareki was going to strangle Nai. It was official. NO amount of cute eyes was saving him. His face burned. "Ugh… Gareki was dead. He was done. And he still had 3 hours on the phone left.


End file.
